Dubai - Rajesh Lingaiah Odnala from Hyderabad contracted Covid-19 and was admitted to hospital in April.
Published: Fri 17 Jul 2020, 3:51 PM
Updated: Sat 18 Jul 2020, 8:59 AM
A hospital in Dubai has waived off more than Dh762,000 in medical bills of an Indian blue-collar worker.
Rajesh Lingaiah Odnala, 42, from Hyderabad contracted Covid-19 and was admitted to Dubai Hospital on April 23. He underwent treatment for 80 days raking up a whopping bill of Dh762,555.
After testing negative, Odnala's family wanted to repatriate him but was unable to foot the bill. The Indian Consulate intervened and wrote a letter to the hospital appealing for a bill waiver on humanitarian grounds.
"As per the latest medical reports, we understand that Rajesh has turned negative for the virus and in condition for discharge. The family is requesting to repatriate him to India at the earliest and has expressed their financial inability to afford the huge hospital charges," the consulate said in its letter to the hospital.
The hospital responded positively to the consulate's letter and discharged the patient without any charges. "We are grateful to the Dubai Health Authority for the great humanitarian gesture of waiving this huge bill and allowing him to travel back to India," Neeraj Agarwal, consul - press information and culture at the consulate, told Khaleej Times.
The consulate also arranged a free ticket for him on the Air India Express' and Odnala flew back home on July 14.
anjana@khaleejtimes.com
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